Kevin Courtneyexplores the rise of the Xoogler

What kind of creatures are they?

Xooglers are a rare breed, few in number, but vast in collective intellect. They started off as Nooglers (new employees of Google), before becoming fully fledged Googlers. Some may even have been Gayglers (gay and lesbian Googlers). Now, however, they are ex-Googlers (ie, people who used to work for Google, but are feeling much better now, thank you).

And what's wrong with working for Google? It's not like they're doing a McJob.

For some super-intelligent types, working for Google keeps them in a financial and creative comfort zone that is hard to break out of. They start to feel like an anonymous digit in a vast, faceless algorithm, and feel a growing desire to cut loose from the collective and dare to do something unique and individual with their lives.

So someone gets bored with their job and goes looking for another one? Nothing new there.

We're not talking about any old company here. We're talking about one of the world's biggest and most powerful corporations, which employs some of the brainiest, techiest minds on earth. And now those boffins are leaving in force, joining what is being called the Google diaspora.

Why the exodus? Google is hardly a sweatshop.

Because Google employees tend to be in the top level of brainpower, they're more likely to come up with boffo ideas and set up in business on their own. The company has been experiencing a massive brain drain, as more employees leave to set up their own start-ups and make their fortunes outside of the Google umbrella.

That's what you get for employing clever people.

If you want to stay ahead in technology and innovation, you've got to hire the best. If Google hadn't had the right people, it would never have developed Google Maps, Google Earth or Gmail, or acquired YouTube.

So where are these ex-Googlers going?

Many of them have set up their own companies, such as Plinky and Howcast, or joined up with such high-profile sites as FriendFeed and Twitter. Others have become venture capitalists, investing in new ideas, many of them from Xooglers. Merus Capital, for example, was set up by a group of ex-Googlers, and many of its investments are business ideas pitched by fellow ex-Googlers.

Sounds like there's a bit of solidarity going on there.

It's true that Xooglers feel a kind of affinity with each other. Like escapees from a wartime prison, Xooglers often gather online to exchange stories of life inside the Googleplex. One blogspot, Xooglers, incurred the wrath of Google's legal team, who felt that bloggers were giving too great an insight into the company's inner workings.

Sounds like a few bridges got burned there.

Most Xooglers are loath to criticise their ex-employers, and with good reason. Google has been smart enough to harbour no hard feelings; indeed, it likes to keep an eye on the progress of its wandering offspring, with a view to investing in some new ideas. And Xooglers are smart enough not to bite the hand that once fed them. Many of them are going back to their former boss in search of capital to start their new companies.

Try at work:"There's a guy looking for 50 grand to start a site dedicated to comedian Ardal O'Hanlon - he's calling it Doogle."

Try at home:"Darling, have you seen my proposal for a foolproof search engine? I can't find it anywhere."